al Jazeera:
Balloon ‘panic’ intensifies push against China in Washington
The Biden administration faces growing calls from US Congress for tough policies against China after ‘spy’ balloon incident.
Published On 9 Feb 20239 Feb 2023
The fallout from the alleged Chinese “spy” balloon that flew over the United States has cemented a near bipartisan consensus in Washington over the need to “stand up” to Beijing, as competition between the two countries intensifies.
While US officials stress they remain open to dialogue with China despite the renewed tensions, many politicians in Washington are invoking the incident to call for tougher policies.
US President Joe Biden himself warned China against threatening US sovereignty during his annual State of the Union speech, seen by an estimated 23.4 million TV viewers on Tuesday evening.
“The Biden administration has shown that it is very concerned with attacks particularly from the right, from Republican critics, that they are being too soft on China,” said Tobita Chow, director of Justice Is Global, a project that advocates for a more sustainable international economy.
“And because of that pressure coming in from the right, I think we often see them leaning further in the direction of confrontational politics.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a previously scheduled trip to Beijing over the balloon incident, which the Biden administration has called an “unacceptable” violation of American sovereignty.
The US military shot down the balloon on Saturday as it flew over the Atlantic Ocean, after days of debate and congressional calls to bring it down.
In his State of the Union speech, Biden said the US is not seeking confrontation in its competition with China but warned that Washington will stand up for its interests against Beijing.
“As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country — and we did,” he said.
What do we know about the balloon?
Little is publicly known about the Chinese balloon or what it was doing in US airspace. Nonetheless, its presence caused a significant political stir and produced countless news headlines and wall-to-wall coverage.
The Biden administration faces growing calls from US Congress for tough policies against China after ‘spy’ balloon incident.
The downed Chinese balloon has magnified ongoing tensions between the US and China [Tyrone Siu/Reuters]
Published On 9 Feb 20239 Feb 2023
The fallout from the alleged Chinese “spy” balloon that flew over the United States has cemented a near bipartisan consensus in Washington over the need to “stand up” to Beijing, as competition between the two countries intensifies.
While US officials stress they remain open to dialogue with China despite the renewed tensions, many politicians in Washington are invoking the incident to call for tougher policies.
US President Joe Biden himself warned China against threatening US sovereignty during his annual State of the Union speech, seen by an estimated 23.4 million TV viewers on Tuesday evening.
“The Biden administration has shown that it is very concerned with attacks particularly from the right, from Republican critics, that they are being too soft on China,” said Tobita Chow, director of Justice Is Global, a project that advocates for a more sustainable international economy.
“And because of that pressure coming in from the right, I think we often see them leaning further in the direction of confrontational politics.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a previously scheduled trip to Beijing over the balloon incident, which the Biden administration has called an “unacceptable” violation of American sovereignty.
The US military shot down the balloon on Saturday as it flew over the Atlantic Ocean, after days of debate and congressional calls to bring it down.
In his State of the Union speech, Biden said the US is not seeking confrontation in its competition with China but warned that Washington will stand up for its interests against Beijing.
“As we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country — and we did,” he said.
What do we know about the balloon?
Little is publicly known about the Chinese balloon or what it was doing in US airspace. Nonetheless, its presence caused a significant political stir and produced countless news headlines and wall-to-wall coverage.
". . . if China threatens our sovereignty . . . " Wakakaka . . . . . a thief calling the victim thief, what a real evil crook, . . . I am really short of description for it.
ReplyDeleteSo much for the "one shot, one kill". I thought only US of A got plenty of simpletons who don't even know where is China and that Malaysians live on trees! Seem true some Malaysian live on trees! Wakakaka . . . .
What panic ?
ReplyDeleteThey waited 5 days, until the balloon was out of inhabited land space before taking it out.
Wakakakaka…
DeleteKnow nothing fart to dress up yr idol!
"Waited 5 days, until the balloon was out of inhabited land space before taking it out"
Wow… !!!??
How about waited 5 days for the helium leaching to force the airborned balloon to drop to level reachable by F22?
Ooop… mfer, obviously u don't know how inhabited in that vast Montana state? In between many of the other states r also sparsely populated!